NCAA Basketball and Recruiting Limits: What's Wrong With the UF Basketball Program

The biggest problem...to me...is the scholarship limit restriction given to the schools. It is, as its name suggests, very restrictive. In football, a team is allowed an 85 player roster which is almost 4 times the amount actually required to field a team. (assuming 11 on each side of the ball). This gives the team the ability to redshirt an entire team full of players (if they want) and still have a solid 3 deep. In the event that 5 players transfer for whatever reason, the team can easily field an experienced and competitive team often without even noticing the loss.

In basketball, where teams can only keep a roster of less than 3 times the amount needed to field a team, if a couple of transfers occur, it often severely damages the chances of your team fielding a truly deep and competitive team for years to come. Not to mention injuries (which is another area where attrition has affected UF). There is very little room for player development or redshirting due to the immediate need of the team to add depth. This not only hurts college basketball, but also adds to the lack of experienced or well-coached young talent coming into the NBA.

I say that the NCAA should raise the limit to 16-20 players, so that a single injury, transfer, or early exit, or two won't completely hobble an entire program. This amount would correlate to around the same percentage of players-to-starters as football. Think about it. If our starting CB went down would we have a reasonably solid player to replace him? (We'd have about 6 options) Or would we have to ask a LB to fill in? If or starting LT went down would we have to ask a WR to try and slow down the Bull rushing defensive ends that have about 80 LBs on them? But this is what happens in college basketball. Teams have to go with a PG playing SG, a PF playing C, or a SG playing SF at times.

This would also give more kids the chance to go to college, play for an elite school, grow into players with a real shot at a career overseas or in the NBA.